Women in Memes
A study of the representation of females in memes - and why we should be concerned about it
Memes targeting women, regardless of intent, can "reinforce oppressive ideologies"
(Milner 2013)
Internet memes are a huge cultural commodity. They tend – or at least attempt - to be humorous, by practice but not definition. Often this humour encapsulates offence targeted toward minorities, but there’s an odd stigma against being offended by memes. If a person is being disrespectful, sexist or racist, meme creation is a legitimate platform for expression, simply because it’s deemed okay to do so. But do these ‘humorous’ media have a real-world impact on minorities? At this point of meme culture in the internet’s cultural development, it’s healthy to be questioning our practice.